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Beach days with friends can be like bad selfies; everything looks great until you realize there’s a kid photobombing your relaxation
Image credits:freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits:cottonbro studio/ Pexels (not the actual photo)
The woman and her friends went on a child-free beach trip together, only to discover that one couple had brought their 6-year-old son with them
Image credits:senivpetro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The woman had chosen to spend the day solo when she found the kid outside her room, alone, while his parents were out on a boat tour
Image credits:Ok-End-712
After trying to reach the kid’s parents without luck, the woman panicked and called the police, who managed to track them down
Our storyteller, a 23-year-old, thought she was signing up for a carefree, child-free beach weekend. But her friends apparently didn’t get the memo, showing up with their six-year-oldson, Jake, who was not on the original guest list.
A couple of days into the trip, things took a bizarre turn. While the OP (original poster) was out soaking up the sun solo, her friends went off for a boat ride. She headed back to her hotel room to grab her sunglasses, only to find Jake sitting outside her door, alone, looking a bit lost.
Um, excuse me? Where were his parents? The OP’s “vacation mode” quickly switched to “what-the-heck” mode as she tried to reach his parents. But all she got was voicemail. She texted, called again, but still nothing. By this point, I’d be dialing anyone who could send out a smoke signal.
After 45 minutes of sitting there with Jake, she made the call. The police arrived, got ahold of the parents (it’s funny how people pick up when the cops are calling), and they finally rushed back in a panic. But instead of thanking the OP for looking after their kid, they, and the wholefriendgroup, gave her the cold shoulder for the rest of the trip. So much for a relaxing vacation.
Image credits:Kindel Media / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But was she really in the wrong here? Leaving a 6-year-old in a hallway without supervision is, at the very least, irresponsible, and at worst, dangerous.Expertsagree that young kids shouldn’t be left unsupervised, as “children under 12 are rarely mature enough to be left alone for a long period of time.”
The real issue here is not why the OP called the police on her friends, but why her friends ditched their son without a second thought. Why are none of the other friends in the group talking about that? These people neglected their kid, abandoning him without supervision. That doesn’t sound like healthy parenting, now, does it?
Parental neglect isn’t always about abandonment. Sometimes, it’s a subtle but damaging disregard for a child’s needs. According to experts, lack of supervision is a form ofchild neglectand, whether intentional or just plain careless, neglect leaves lasting scars. Kids thrive on stability and supervision, and without it, they’re forced to navigate the world with little guidance, often feeling unsafe or abandoned.
What Jake was feeling when he was left alone in a busy hotel, we can’t know, but one thing’s for sure: the OP did what any sane person would do. If her friends were more worried about their boat ride than their son’s safety, that’s on them. Sure, calling the cops isn’t what most people picture when they think of “vacation memories,” but sometimes it takes a wake-up call.
We asked the poster how she felt about her friends’ parenting choices prior to the incident. She told us that she doesn’t have much experience with parenting, but nothing ever stood out as problematic to her. “The police and CPS did ask me if I noticed any red flags, and I didn’t really know what to say. They just seemed like normal parents,” the poster continued.
We asked the poster to describe her thought process when she decided to call the police. “I just kept thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t come back to my room to get my sunglasses. Just horrible things went through my head about what could have happened to him,” the poster explained.
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